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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Shack

Okay, I promised I'd tell you about the book I've been reading, but I wanted to wait until I'd finished it. By now you've probably heard about The Shack. It's a 246-page bestseller! I had the book with me when I was taking depositions last week and two other people told me they were reading it! First let me say that I am not a book critic. I mostly read books recommended by dear friends, such as this one was. Secondly, I will say this is not the Bible and cannot be treated as God's Word. It is, however, the best fiction book I've ever read that portrays the love of our Heavenly Father. I won't give away the plot, but I will tell you that it addresses the age old question of, "If God is so loving, then why does He allow horrible things to happen?" I liken the answer to a joke told from the pulpit last Sunday. Since I'm not good at telling jokes, I'll just tell you the meaning of the punch line was that we can have as much or as little of our Heavenly Father as we choose. He loves every one of His creation. He can take our messes and make them beautiful. He can take evil and make it good. Our Creator gave us a free will, and while He would love for us to always reach to Him, He doesn't force us to do so. It's true that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, and that will be a final recognition of what we should have known all along. But what about now? What about our daily walk? Our struggles and even tragedies? Do we really believe God is with us through those? I know my answer. This book made me sob, laugh and sob some more. Probably the most poignant thing for me is something I already knew but had perhaps discounted as cliche is the fact that Jesus is present with every child in the midst of tragedy, every child in the throws of loneliness, every child who is not being tucked in by his or her parents ...

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear what you thought about it so please leave a comment.

11 comments:

I have not read the book..... ha ha you probably knew that already! But I can read about the passion for the book and tell that it is genuine. I would love to borrow it and read it for myslef! To bad I dont have it today, a day where going somewhere (even school) is out of the question!

I have read the book and oh how I would love to have an actual experience like that with the Trinity. (without the tragety, of course!) I'm not a big reader, but I couldn't put this book down. I have recommended this book to everyone I talk to. It just made me want to know Him more!

I rhink you make a good book reviewer. You have certainly made me want to read this book. I think I need to browse on over to Amazon.com and order it.Enjoy your day of "iced-in" fun. We are even taking the school day off...a disadvantage to Homeschool,never having a snow day.Love ya friendKim

I received this book for Christmas and I LOVED it! I even got my husband to read it and he doesn't like to read! He couldn't put it down and was sad when he finished it. It really was a powerful book and really makes you think about how God might see things. It was incredible!

Connie, I read this book last summer! I loved it! It explained things to me in a way I hadn't thought of before. I will probably read it again this summer! CNY was fun! Thanks for the book! We will read it over and over again! By the way, your candles are awesome!

I loved the Shack. I am also not a big reader but this book spoke to my heart and made some Biblical concepts of God come alive. My main concern is that people are treating it like it is the scriptures. Thank you for the reminder that the Shack is fiction but can help open our eyes.

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Lifeline's Special Focus Children

Lifeline's Special Focus Children

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!" Author unknown